ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Short Interest Up 28.3% in May

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the April 30th total of 1,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 910,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

ICL Group Stock Performance

ICL stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $6.74. 877,077 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 822,303. ICL Group has a 1-year low of $3.79 and a 1-year high of $7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that ICL Group will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.0426 per share. This is a boost from ICL Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. ICL Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its position in ICL Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 20,551,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $101,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,357 shares during the period. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD now owns 4,579,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $22,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,324 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 120.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,153,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $23,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,245 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 16,479,059 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $81,334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,715 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,424,000. Institutional investors own 13.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ICL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ICL Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

ICL Group Company Profile

ICL Group Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty minerals and chemicals company worldwide. It operates in four segments: Industrial Products, Potash, Phosphate Solutions, and Growing Solutions. The Industrial Products segment produces bromine out of a solution that is a by-product of the potash production process, as well as bromine-based compounds; produces various grades of potash, salt, magnesium chloride, and magnesia products; and produces and markets phosphorous-based flame retardants and other phosphorus-based products.